Onlookers help pull 5 from car after it flips

Two women and three children escaped through a window of a vehicle after it flipped when it hit a guy wire.

Erin Wood

Two women and three children escaped through a window of a vehicle after it flipped when it hit a guy wire.

About 7:40 p.m., the driver of the Ford Taurus, whose name was not released by authorities Friday night, was traveling south at a high rate of speed on the steep slope of Wayne Street, police said. She drove the vehicle onto the west curb of Wayne and lost control of the car, said Peoria Police Lt. Steve Roegge.

The driver over-corrected, the car violently swerved in the opposite direction and it was briefly airborne before hitting a guy wire on a telephone pole on the east side of the street, police said. The car flipped on its side near the intersection with Northeast Greenleaf Street.

Nearby neighbors and a group of young boys said they witnessed the accident and helped the women and young girls escape from the car, which began leaking gasoline immediately after it flipped. The car never caught fire, and everyone involved in the crash escaped without life-threatening injuries, Roegge said.

"We helped them all climb out of the car through the window," said Lucanna King, who lives near the scene of the crash and is a friend of the driver. King had blood on her pink tank top from holding the baby. "As long as they got out, I'm not worried about this shirt."

King said she was outside her house and saw the car flip. She recounted the accident as described by police, though she estimated the driver wasn't traveling much faster than the speed limit. King said she rushed over to the car and called 911, at which point the five victims were screaming for help.

"(The driver) was yelling, 'Don't go, don't go,'" King said. "I was not about to move. I was panicking, and when I saw the gas start pouring down the hill, I was sure the car was going to burst into flames. I was just worried about those babies."

King and a group of eight boys said they helped get the children out of the left rear window, and the two women were able to climb out after them. The ages of the women and children also have not been released.

"The baby was banging on the window trying to get out," said Tymir Nunn, 14. "We were just nervous the car was going to blow up."

By the time police arrived, about five minutes after the 911 call, everyone had escaped from the vehicle, Roegge said. There were about four fire engines and five police cars at the scene, including investigators from the traffic division.

The women and children were all transported by ambulances to local hospitals.